


Parade Problems

by icanseethroughtimesstuff



Series: Thasmin Week [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, London Pride, Minor Violence, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 13:52:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanseethroughtimesstuff/pseuds/icanseethroughtimesstuff
Summary: Yaz volunteers to marshall London Pride, the Doctor worries.





	Parade Problems

**Author's Note:**

> For Thasmin Week. 24/1 Yaz and the Doctor go to Pride.

When the call went out that the London Police service needed additional help to marshall this years Pride parade, Yaz was one of the first to volunteer.  After the problems of the previous year they apparently decided they wouldn’t be taking any chances, but couldn’t spare the extra manpower themselves.  Hallamshire Police had announced they could spare one officer and she had jumped at the chance.  Not only was it good experience, but being bisexual herself, Pride meant a lot to her.

She told the Doctor, Ryan and Graham about it the first chance she got.  The boys seemed genuinely excited for her, while the Doctor was putting on a good show of being happy while nervously playing with her hands.  Yaz had known her long enough to know that meant she was worried about something and resolved to find out what the problem was the first chance she got.

Her chance came after their next adventure.  They’d spent half the day running away from danger and the other half running towards it and were all exhausted.  Graham especially was insistent he needed a day or two at home to recover, the Doctor only too happy to oblige.  She piloted them back to Sheffield with a promise to see them soon, Ryan and Graham both sleepily dragging themselves through the door while Yaz hung back.  Eventually the Doctor noticed she was making no move to leave and turned to face her.

“Not in a rush Yaz?” she asked curiously.  “The other two couldn’t wait to get away.”

Yaz smiled at her and leaned against a nearby railing.  “I wouldn’t take it personally, I think they’re both just dead on their feet.  Don’t think they realised they were signing on for regular exercise.”

The Doctor grinned.  “If nothing else I keep my friends fit.  Do you not need to get some rest as well though?”  She seemed genuinely interested.  “That last adventure was pretty active even by our standards, I’m amazed you’re not tuckered out as well.”

“I am pretty tired,” Yaz confessed, “but there’s something I wanted to ask you about first.”

“Well then I’m all ears,” the Doctor said, leaning against the railing next to Yaz and bumping her shoulder.  “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing major, it’s just when I told you about me working London Pride, you seemed a bit off.”

“Ah,” the Doctor said with a frown, “I see.”  She took a breath and looked at Yaz a little nervously.  “It’s just, I know some nasty people turn up sometimes, like protesters and things.  I know you’re a brilliant copper and you can take care of yourself, but I can’t help but worry a little bit, you are my best mate after all.”

Yaz was simultaneously thrilled and disappointed by the Doctor’s statement.  It was truly touching to know she cared so much but at the same time being called her ‘best mate’ was disappointing in a way it really shouldn’t be.  The trouble was Yaz had been falling for her friend for a while now but had kept it to herself, figuring a thousands of years old practical superhero would never be interested in her.

“You know I’ll be fine though, don’t you?” Yaz reassured her.  “There’s tons of police marshalls working, and we have contingencies and risk assessments in place for anything that could go wrong.”

“I know, I’m just being daft,” said the Doctor, seemingly calmer now, “besides you’ve faced worse than a few stupid protesters, haven’t you?”

“Well the people firing laser guns at us this afternoon were pretty intense,” she replied, pretending to think about it, “but they’ve got nothing on people holding signs telling me I’m going to hell.”

“People still do that?” the Doctor frowned.  “I thought humans had grown out of that sort of nonsense by now.”

“Most people have,” Yaz sighed, “but there’s always idiots.”

“Maybe I should come along,” the Doctor said, looking thoughtful and staring into space, “it’s been a long time since I’ve been to Pride.”

“You can’t just tag along on my job, Doctor,” a startled Yaz replied, “I’d get in trouble.”

The Doctor gave her a look that was far too innocent.  “Who says I’d be tagging along with you?  Maybe I just want to join in the party.  After all, I am part of the community.  Sort of.”  Her face was scrunched up in confusion.

“Really?” Yaz said perking up and trying not to sound too keen.

“Well, yeah.  I mean, I’m romantically interested in women but I was a bloke until recently so I’m not sure if it counts.  Plus I’m not even human.”

“I’m sure that counts,” Yaz replied quickly, doing an internal happy dance trying not to get over-excited.  _Get a grip Khan, just because she’s interested in women doesn’t mean she’s interested in you,_ she thought.

“Brilliant,” the Doctor beamed, “then that settles it, I’m going to Pride!”

Yaz couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm.  “Okay, but you have to promise not to bother me while I’m working,” she said mock sternly.  The Doctor whipped around and gave her a two fingered salute while standing to attention.

“Brownies honour,” she smiled, Yaz laughing again at her antics.

*****

A few months later found Yaz in full police gear, sweating in the summer sun in the middle of London.  The build up to the parade had been busy to say the least.  Yaz had travelled down a day early in order to attend a special briefing for the out of area officers who’d travelled to help out.  It was informative, if a little dull, and Yaz had been eager to get to work.

So far it had been rather less than exciting.  As an out of towner and relatively junior officer, she’d been given one of the quieter stretches of the parade to marshall.   The crowds in the area were pretty thin, most people congregating around the more touristy areas, and she hadn’t had a great deal to do.

The only thing vaguely concerning her was a feeling she’d been having all day of being watched.  Her eyes kept darting to a particular portion of the small crowd but there was nothing out of the ordinary, and she put it down to nerves and anticipation.

One thing that did surprise her was that she hadn’t seen the Doctor yet.  She’d promised Yaz she’d keep her distance but she was still surprised she hadn’t at least made an appearance yet.  Yaz felt a small twinge of disappointment despite being the one to insist she didn’t need the Doctor watching over her, it would be nice just to see a friendly face.  The officers she was working with were professionals but she didn’t know any of them, and missed the banter she had with both her colleagues in Sheffield and team Tardis.

She was about to start another patrol along the barriers blocking the spectators from the parade route when she heard what sounded like a large group of people shouting.  She looked in the direction of the noise and saw a group of maybe thirty people heading towards the barriers.  At a distance they could have been mistaken for revellers here to enjoy the party, but the closer they got she realised something was very wrong.  As much as she’d been prepared for protesters, had even dealt with them before, this particular crowd looked more aggressive than the usual types and seemed to be looking for trouble.

Yaz moved towards the senior officer to draw her attention and realised she didn’t need to.  Her eyes were already fixed on the group as she talked calmly into her radio, and Yaz could already see a small group of officers digging riot gear out of the back of their van and moving into position.

Confident they would have the situation under control, Yaz was shocked when what looked like a grenade was suddenly thrown towards the parade route from the group, some of the spectators now realising what was happening and visibly starting to panic.

“Get those people away from here,” her superior barked towards her and a few other officers nearby.  Leaping into action Yaz headed into the crowd, ushering people away and trying to offer reassurances.  The grenade-like object turned out to be a smoke bomb, and pretty soon visibility in the area was terrible.  The protesters had pushed down the barriers and were confronting the riot police, pushing against their shields and all shouting over each other so loudly that Yaz mercifully couldn’t make out individual words.

Yaz realised too late that in the chaos and due to the low visibility she’d become separated from the rest of the officers, and when she turned towards the noise she saw a protester barrelling towards her.  She ducked out of the way just in time and managed to tackle him to the floor, holding him there.  Managing to cuff him, she dragged him back towards the source of the noise, she saw that the rest of the protesters had been subdued and were either making a run for it or being put in the back of police vans.

Yaz marched her prisoner to the nearest van, bundling him in with the others as he screamed homophobic and racist slurs at her.  She shrugged it off, it wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard before in the line of duty, and went to give her statement to her superior.

By now the smoke had cleared and it had been confirmed that this was a one-off occurrence.  There was no trouble anywhere else along the parade route and they seemed to be a disorganised group of opportunists who’d thrown together a plan at the last minute.  The organisers and police had decided to slightly alter the route to avoid the area, and Yaz and the rest of the officers were relieved and sent back to the station to fill out the arrest paperwork and give more detailed statements.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur of interviews and paperwork and by the time Yaz was done the parade was well and truly over.  She was more annoyed than anything.  She’d dealt with worse than this at match day in Sheffield, no one had been hurt apart from a few people with minor breathing difficulties caused by the smoke.  She was mostly thankful that it wasn’t much worse, but a small selfish part of her was disappointed that she’d missed the parade.

When she was finally done she headed out of the office and towards the station’s front desk, only to see a familiar face in heated argument with the harassed-looking desk sergeant.

The Doctor was in her usual clothes apart from the giant rainbow flag she had tied around her neck and flowing behind her like a cape and the smaller ones she had painted on her cheeks.  She looked up mid-rant and saw Yaz, barrelling towards her with so much as a second glance at the poor man she’s been arguing with and wrapping Yaz in a big hug.

“It’s alright, she’s a friend,” Yaz called over the Doctor’s shoulder towards the officers who were moving purposefully towards her.  They looked at her rather disapprovingly but moved away.

“Um, Doctor,” Yaz said, tapping her on the shoulder about a minute later when she showed no sign of letting go, “I may need to breathe at some point, any chance you could let me go?”

The Doctor immediately released her and pulled out her sonic, scanning Yaz from head to toe, a look of concern on her face.  Scan completed she checked the readings and let out a sigh of relief.  “Well you’ll have a nasty cough for a few days but no other injuries.”

Yaz was about to reply when the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her made her turn.  It was the same officer who’d been in charge of their group during the parade.  “Officer Khan you know better than this, your partner can’t be back here,” she said with a stern expression on her face.

“She’s not my partner she’s my…doctor,” Yaz replied rather lamely.

“Right,” the officer said, clearly unconvinced.  “Well either way, you’ve been debriefed and are free to go, so you can take your…doctor out now please.”

“Of course,” Yaz was already backing towards the door, grabbing the Doctor’s hand and pulling her along.  They made it outside and Yaz breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be back in the fresh air after being stuck inside all day.  “Thought I was gonna be in big trouble then.”

The Doctor, still holding Yaz’s hand, started pulling her down the street.  “I reckon she’s got enough to worry about without worrying about something that minor.”

Yaz was about to reply, when something else occurred to her.  “How did you know where to find me, by the way?”

She looked at the Doctor who had the most sheepish look on her face Yaz had ever seen.  “Well, the thing is…I may have been in the crowd when everything happened, I was wearing a perception filter cause you said you didn’t want me to bother you, there was smoke everywhere and by the time I found you, you were about to head back to the station so I used the sonic to track the van you were in and followed you here so I waited outside but you were taking forever so I came in to find you but the man behind the desk wouldn’t let me through, then I saw you and…well, you know the rest.”

Yaz took a minute to process the information she’d just been given.  She should be annoyed that the Doctor had followed her but she couldn’t find it in herself to be.  After all she hadn’t interfered with her job, she’d stayed out of sight and let Yaz work and then had waited outside the station rather than barging in with her psychic paper demanding to be let through.  All in all that was a lot more restraint than she usually showed.

“Well I’m just glad you didn’t get properly caught up in it and end up hurt,” Yaz finally said squeezing the Doctor’s hand as they continued their walk.  The Doctor guided her down an alleyway where she could see the Tardis parked at the end.

“Hurt? Me?” the Doctor gasped, clearly offended by the very notion.  “Have you not seen my mad Venusian aikido skills?”

Yaz grinned at her as the Doctor let go of her hand to push the Tardis door open.  “Yes, you’re very good at poking people in the neck with a finger,” she teased.

The Doctor scoffed at her as they both stepped inside.  “There’s a bit more to it than that, Yasmin Khan.”

“I’m sure,” she replied, nudging the Doctor’s shoulder.  “Loving the new accessory, by the way.”  She tugged at the rainbow flag still wrapped around her shoulders.  “It’s very you.”

The Doctor winked at her.  “Thanks, thought I might make it permanent.”

“You would,” Yaz giggled.

“Why do people keep thinking we’re seeing each other?” the Doctor suddenly asked.  “First your mum, now your boss.”

Yaz’s heart rate suddenly picked up, and she was hyper-aware of how close together they were standing.  “I don’t know,” she stammered, not letting herself make eye contact with the Doctor.

There was a moments silence, then the Doctor, oh so quietly, said, “Yaz, please look at me.”

Looking up into the Doctor’s eyes, she didn’t think she’d ever seen her look so open and vulnerable.  “What is it?” Yaz asked just as quietly, not wanting to startle her.

The Doctor moved her hand up to Yaz’s cheek, making her heart flutter.  “Do you want us to be seeing each other,” she whispered, gazing into her eyes.

“Yes,” Yaz managed to breathe out.  This being all the confirmation she needed, the Doctor closed the gap between them.

Yaz was no novice, she’d kissed people and been kissed before by both men and women.  It was usually okay, sometimes really nice and with one particularly slobbery young man on a night out absolutely dreadful.  This was beyond anything she could have expected.  She felt elated and calm all at once, like every thought she’d ever had evaporated and the only thing that existed in the entire universe was her and the Doctor.  And _those lips_.  Yaz was nobody’s poet, but she would cheerfully write an epic about those lips.  They were so _soft_.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  After what seemed like forever and not long enough, the Doctor pulled away.  Yaz was a little ashamed of the whine she let out but only a little.  She was only human after all.

“Was that okay?” the Doctor asked sounding genuinely concerned.

“Perfect,” Yaz breathed out, her eyes still closed.  She opened them to see the Doctor, her eyes shining with happiness beaming at her.  Her lips were swollen and her cheeks were red and Yaz didn’t think she’d ever seen anything more beautiful in her life.

“Are we seeing each other now?” she asked, pulling Yaz into a hug and nuzzling her cheek.

“Yes, yes, absolutely,” Yaz managed to get out as the Doctor started placing gentle kisses against her ear and down her neck.

The Doctor pulled away, big smile back in place.  “I’m seeing Yaz, amazing!”

*****

A year later, Yaz was back at London Pride.  Not working this time but joining in and having the time of her life.  Graham and Ryan were around somewhere enjoying the festivities and there’d thankfully been no trouble.  She leaned against the barriers, getting a better view of the floats as they went past.  She felt a pressure against her back and a familiar scent overwhelmed her senses as a pair of strong arms went around her waist.

“What d’you think,” the Doctor whispered in her ear, “better than last year?”

“Definitely,” she replied, spinning around in her girlfriend’s arms to face her, “much better.”

She leaned into a hug, listening to the sounds of music and celebration around her.  Held by the Doctor, celebrating who she was without a care in the world.  _A girl could get used to this_ , she thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated x


End file.
